<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">This thread is hilarious. I love it... the Grizzlies trade away the heart and soul of their entire team... arguably their best player... and all they get in return is an unmotivated, poor ball handling rookie... and people in the Rockets forum act like they're getting ripped off... haha... To add to it all, the Grizzlies have to take on Stromile Swift,... perhaps the worst player in the NBA? Perhaps... I also love how this time of year everyone is an expert on the draft... I never saw any of you guys posting in the college forum this year... what do you all know about Rudy Gay? Please... you're all reactionary posters... you have no idea about Gay's game, but you hear some analyst call him a potential All-Star and all of a sudden that's your opinion... Signing off and winding down...</div> To be fair...if this trade goes down you will have the second worst player in the NBA in stromile. We have the worst (Ryan Bowen). The reason why I hate this trade is because this team allready has its main core. Adding Gay would add youth and depth to our line up. When we give away Stromile and Gay, we potentially lose depth and youth and are still over the salary cap so we can't sign a big free agent. Battier might make an instant impact, but in the long run and if inuries occur were gonna have mediocre players replacing our injured ones.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">David Wesley?????????????????</div> David Wesley is 6-1, Battier is 6-9. Please, don't compare them. If Battier starts, TMac will shift down to shooting guard, while Battier will start at small forward. He has the strength to guard the post and still has excellent footwork to keep up on the perimeter. When we face an uptempo team with a small power forward like Lamar Odom or Shawn Marion, Battier could easily shift over to power forward. Also, of course Battier is getting old. Still, he's just a year older than Swift and five times the player. He's not going to get worse, only better. He's not 34 yet.
Eh...only thing from that is he is old. He was a senior drafted in 2001. So as a senior he was 22. Add 5 more years because now its 2006. He is 27. 27 is usually where players hit their prime. He won't have to mjuch of a chance with being the third option and all. I want more from memphis.
Well I for one am outraged as too...but im am starting to settle down with the lost... Then I found this: http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/rudygay.html hmmm.... overall....------>only 97.....(i am being sarcastic)
Well i mean there is really no difference in an offence between the shooting guard and small forward its like asking a player to switch from left wing to right wing. Whatever but obviously now we have battier to guard the other team's best offensive player so mcgrady can settle down and do what he likes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting tinyballer:</div><div class="quote_post">Well i mean there is really no difference in an offence between the shooting guard and small forward its like asking a player to switch from left wing to right wing. Whatever but obviously now we have battier to guard the other team's best offensive player so mcgrady can settle down and do what he likes.</div> That's a good point.....
But how much defense do we need. We are allready holding teams in the low 90's with the slow old team that we have right now. WE need that offense to put us over the top. Battier will give us 8-10 ppg max as a third option. Stromile at least gave us 9 ppg. Rudy would give us around 5-7 ppg as a rookie. We lose that depth factor. CD needs to make the right moves. Maybe this is an elaborate plan to get Kevin Garnett Kevin Garnett for Juwan Howard + Shane Battier + rights to steve novak
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">Eh...only thing from that is he is old. He was a senior drafted in 2001. So as a senior he was 22. Add 5 more years because now its 2006. He is 27. 27 is usually where players hit their prime. He won't have to mjuch of a chance with being the third option and all. I want more from memphis.</div> Haha, since when was being 27 considered old? I can't believe some of you would rather have a guy who has never stepped foot on an NBA floor over a proven NBA player who can labeled as a hell of a defensive player. And saying Battier is old and saying that you want more from Memphis for Gay seriously made me laugh out loud. In my opinion, Rudy Gay was up there with Tyrus Thomas as one of the most overrated players in this draft. You all can read NBA Draft Profiles and listen to ESPNs so called experts all you want, but I think i've seen enough of Gay to think he will not be the next Vince Carter or Scottie Pippen.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">But how much defense do we need. We are allready holding teams in the low 90's with the slow old team that we have right now. WE need that offense to put us over the top. Battier will give us 8-10 ppg max as a third option. Stromile at least gave us 9 ppg. Rudy would give us around 5-7 ppg as a rookie. We lose that depth factor. CD needs to make the right moves.</div> That's what I've said along. Van Gundy overdoes these "intelligent, defensive minded" players he's obsessed with. He's simply trying to compensate for the fact he doesn't want the responsibility of developing young talented players in his system. What he fails to realize is the West is getting faster, younger, and more athletic. He refuses to add changes to his offense, chasing the same type of players. Most stubborn coach in the NBA <div class="quote_poster">Quoting UKFan33:</div><div class="quote_post">Haha, since when was being 27 considered old? I can't believe some of you would rather have a guy who has never stepped foot on an NBA floor over a proven NBA player who can labeled as a hell of a defensive player. And saying Battier is old and saying that you want more from Memphis for Gay seriously made me laugh out loud.</div> I'd rather have Gay & Swift on the same team than just Battie alone. We gave away too much for a one player.
I hate Jerry West because he took Hakim Warrick from us last year and now is taking Rudy Gay. True Warrick might have been gone by the time our pick came around, but still.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UKFan33:</div><div class="quote_post">I can't believe some of you would rather have a guy who has never stepped foot on an NBA floor over a proven NBA player who can labeled as a hell of a defensive player. And saying Battier is old and saying that you want more from Memphis for Gay seriously made me laugh out loud. In my opinion, Rudy Gay was up there with Tyrus Thomas as one of the most overrated players in this draft. You all can read NBA Draft Profiles and listen to ESPNs so called experts all you want, but I think i've seen enough of Gay to think he will not be the next Vince Carter or Scottie Pippen.</div> How will you even know if you don't give him the chance? For God's sake you and JVG need to be more open minded about things. I was mad yesterday, I'm still mad today. btw check Stro and Battier's 2005-2006 stats. The difference is so small considering Battier gets 15 mins more playing time. Jesus. I can't believe how much we gave up for him. Like everybody else said, no one's dissing Battier as a solid player, but we gave up too much for him! I wish I had it in me to stop being a Rockets fan. sigh.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">But how much defense do we need. We are allready holding teams in the low 90's with the slow old team that we have right now. WE need that offense to put us over the top. Battier will give us 8-10 ppg max as a third option. Stromile at least gave us 9 ppg. Rudy would give us around 5-7 ppg as a rookie. We lose that depth factor. CD needs to make the right moves. Maybe this is an elaborate plan to get Kevin Garnett Kevin Garnett for Juwan Howard + Shane Battier + rights to steve novak</div> If Shane Battier will start for us, and Stromile was on the bench for us, wouldn't you think he would average more than 8 ppg? I mean even Luther averaged 9 ppg his rookie season. And no this isnt for Kevin Garnett, and that trade is the worst I have seen, but they are trying to release more cap room, to get a playoff caliber PF.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">What are you judging your statements on? Gay has never played in the NBA, and maxed out at 15 ppg in college. If you want to compare that to Battier's 20 ppg his last year at Duke, then I don't see where you're coming from.</div> Its not like Gay had to contend with Marcus Williams, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Denham Brown for points.... Wait... He did. And its not like he deffered to the experienced players in the clutch. Wait... He did. ------------------------------------- Gay's athletic, a good defender, and has great potential. He could very well end up being a great #2 option for Memphis down the road. That being said, its based on potential. With Battier, you can count on what he provides every night, hustle, good defense, solid shooting, hustling, and smart basketball play. Gay is loaded with potential. If Gay lives up to it, he will easily blow Battier out of the water. However, he has to prove he can turn the potential into production first. Houston is trying to win now. Battier makes more sense. West went for the home run. Not sure I can blame him for that either. The one thing I question about Gay is his work ethic and basketball IQ. When you look at the great players throughout history and even now, two common characteristics are shared by all: good work ethic and good basketball IQ. Gay's work ethic is questionable. But that can be improved, if he is willing to work on it. As far as IQ goes, he does have a feel for the game, though, he does show his inexperience at times last year at UConn.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Eduardo:</div><div class="quote_post">How will you even know if you don't give him the chance? For God's sake you and JVG need to be more open minded about things. I was mad yesterday, I'm still mad today. btw check Stro and Battier's 2005-2006 stats. The difference is so small considering Battier gets 15 mins more playing time. Jesus. I can't believe how much we gave up for him. Like everybody else said, no one's dissing Battier as a solid player, but we gave up too much for him! I wish I had it in me to stop being a Rockets fan. sigh.</div> I'd like to know how many of Rudy Gay's game you have actually watched? I have watched him play at least 20 times since he was a freshman at UConn. He has shown flashes of greatness, but he has also shown flashes of mediocrity. I'm not sure whether he will be the star that everyone is projecting him to be. But I do know that everyone is overrating him just because of his potential. And I have yet to see him turn that potential into production.
Nice trade for the Rockets IMO, although I am pretty sure that Battier had the assignment of stopping Dirk during the playoffs. Dirk averaged over 31 a game during that series, not that great if Battier is really the best defender in the NBA. However, Gay was a big risk, so it may have been worth it. I can't help but think they could have gotten more for him than what they got though.
I don't care about keeping Rudy gay or not, but when your giving up so much for Shane Battier, I would keep RUdy Gay. Rafer Alston in his last year in Toronto was the second option after Chris Bosh. He avg 14 ppg. When he came to the Rockets, he averaged 10 ppg. Shane Battier as memphis second option avg 10 ppg. As the third option, Shane Battier avgs?? more than 10...I think not. He will not give us any offense. Defensivley it is a step up, but how much defense do we need. Even the Spurs and the Pistons have a mediocre offense compared to their great defense.
I am going to say something that may not make much sense, but Battier is the most overated underated player in the NBA. Yeah he is a very solid player, but he is nowhere close to being worth a lottery pick and Stro (who has underpeformed, but still has trade value for certain teams). No matter how good a defender a player is, they will never be able to stop the best offensive players in the league. He will not be able to lockdown players like Kobe, Wade, Nowitski, or Lebron. Also, I beleive that in order to win with defense, you need a good defensive team. The Rockets are far from being a good defensive team. Noone on the team is what I would consider a top defender for their position. Adding a defensive-minded player like Battier will not neccessarily lead to significantly more wins. JVG and CD should be thinking about adding more offensive weapons. And did anyone know that Jerry West has had been friends with Jim calhoun for a long time. Calhoun would know Gay better than anyone, and what he told him probably had some influence in why West was willing to part with the Grizzlies MVP in order to get him.
players drafted based on their "potential": -kwame brown -stromile swift -marvin williams -martell webster -andrew bynum Most of the solid draft picks are the ones not based on potential, but based on being "NBA-ready". I would say out of all the picks drafted on potential, less than half actually realize that potential and become above-average NBA players. And in terms of players who have a "lack of motivation", most of them won't be able to adapt to the change in level of play if they don't put the work in. Look at Dwyane Wade, already one of the top players in the league and still puts in a lot of time honing his skills. That's the type of player you need/want to draft. I think CD only wanted one player in the draft, and that was Roy. Anyone else and he was looking for the best available offer.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting johnny33:</div><div class="quote_post">players drafted based on their "potential": -kwame brown -stromile swift -marvin williams -martell webster -andrew bynum </div> funny how you didn't name the successful ones with potential. Lebron James Carmelo Anthony Tracy Mcgrady Kobe Bryant Jermaine O neal Kevin Garnett All those guys were drafted from high school except Carmelo who was drafted as a freshman. ALL potential, Lebron was hyped so much, but no one knew if he could translate his game to NBA. They took a gamble and they were right.
or even more notablally CHarlie Villanuaeva who in UCOON plays a team concept with his team istead of tryin to be teh star sounds like someone else we know?